Self-wringing mop



Jan. 13, 1948. v COOPER 2,434,397

. 4 sELF-wRINGIN MOP Filed Feb. 23, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

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A rroemsx Jan. 13, COOPER 2,434,397

SELF-WRINGING MOP Filed Feb. 23, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Wee/4 A. 00PR,

' A rrae/vzx Patented Jan. 13, 1948 UNi'iED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates generally to self-wringing mops and has for its major object the provision of a simple and easily operable mop of this type which can be made of non-strategic materials.

Another object of my invention is to provide a self-wringing mop in which various kinds and sizes of mop cloths can be used, and particularly cloths formed of a plurality of strings, which have always proved very difiicult to handle when used with self-wringing devices.

t is also an object of my invention to provide a mop of the character described having a wringing mechanism which can be operated with a minimum of effort and can therefore be used by persons not having a great deal of strength.

A still further object of my invention is the provision of simple and efiicient means for attaching the mop cloth to the large mop roller, which means also serves to keep the water being wrung out of one portion of the mop from wetting that portion of the mop that has already been wrung out.

Another object of my invention is to provide a mop with efficient self-wringing apparatus which does not interfere with the general utility of the mop, and which permits the mop to be used in close quarters not ordinarily available to self-wringing mops.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred form thereof, and from the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a side elevational View of the mop in operation,

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the mop shown in Fig. 1, taken as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a side elevational section taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is an operational view partially in section showing the next-to-last step in the wringing operation,

Fig. 5 is a generally horizontal section taken on the line 5-5 in Fig. 4,

Fig. 6 is another operational view showing in full lines the mop before and after wringing, i. e. in its normal position, and in dotted lines the position of the operating yoke about to rotate the mop roller through the first section of the wringing operation, and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of the lower end of the clevis illustrating how its end portion is bent back upon itself to provide a guide for the mop cloth strings during the wringing operation.

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral 1% indicates a conventional handle which has a clevis attached to its lower end. The clevis is preferably substantially rectangular in shape comprising a base portion having parallel arms ii and Ha extending therefrom as seen best in Fig. 2. The lower ends of the clevis arms are preferably bent back upon themselves to form guides l2 and Na as seen best in Figs. 5 and 7. Since the two sides of the clevis and of the various parts associated therewith are duplicates of each other, the same numbers will be applied to the duplicate parts, merely indicating those of one side with the letter a added to the appropriate numeral. A relatively large roller I3 is rotatably mounted in the clevis arms H and Ha by pins 5 4 and Ma which are journaled in the clevis arms. A second roller indicated by the numeral l5, and preferably smaller in size thanroller I3, is journaled by means of pins l6 and lSa in slots El and Ila in the lower end of the clevis arms H and Ila, and similar slots I8 and Ilia in the guides l2 and l2a, respectively. It will thus be seen that the small roller [5 has limited movement toward and away from the large roller l3. Resilient means which may take the form of rubber strips 19 and lBa continuously urge the roller 15 toward the roller [3.

One end of the mop cloth 20 is secured to the large roller [3 as seen best in Fig. 4 by means of a curved clamping plate 2| extending the full length of the roller l3 and pivoted at its ends by means of a pair of rods 22 and 22a, respectively, which have their other ends mounted in the ends of the roller IS. The clamping plate 2! has its edge adjacent its axis of rotation serrated as indicated by the numeral 23 to engage the end of the mop cloth and secure it in place when the plate is rotated from the open position indicated in broken lines in Fig. 4 to its closed position indicated in full lines in said figure. It will be noted that the plate 2! in normal closed position tapers down to and hugs the face of roller 13 so as to prevent any water rolling down over the roller and onto the portion of the mop clamped to the roller by the clamping plate. When it is desired to remove the mop cloth from the roller l3, it is only necessary to swing the plate 2| about its outer edge to the position shown in broken lines in Fig. 4 in which position the mop cloth can be readily withdrawn.

As previously mentioned, it is very difficult to rotate a string type mop cloth in a wringing roller since the outer strands of the mop cloth fall away from the roller and tend to become wedged between the rollers and the supporting means therefor. This problem has been solved in my invention by providing the guides l2 and PM previously mentioned which confine the mop cloth strings during their initial travel between the rollers i3 and I5, and by further providing auxiliary guide plates or flanges 25 and 25a attached to the opposite ends of the large roller l3. As seen from the drawings, these flanges 25 and 25a are generally elliptical or egg-shaped in form and are disposed so that when the mop is in normal operative position as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3, the major axis of each flange is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the clevis arms II and Ila. It will be further noted that the minor axis of each flange is approximately equal to the diameter of the roller [3 so as to present a minimum of interference to use of the mop in corners and other places of limited area. The flanges 25 and 25a rotate or pass between their respective clevis arms H and Na and the guides I2 and |2a at the end thereof. One extended portion of the flanges 25 and 25a extends out beyond the roller l3 adjacent the point where the mop cloth 2!] is attached thereto and the other extended portion of the flanges extends out beyond the other side of roller l3 to act as an additional guiding or confining means for the mop strings after they pass through the rollers and beyond the guide plates 2. The ends of the guides l2 and |2a are preferably curved to conform to the curvature of roller H3 and are closely adjacent thereto so as to prevent any escape of mop strings between the roller and the guides and thus to insure full confinementof the mop cloth during the wringing operation. Since the small roller I5 is resiliently urged toward the large roller l3, passage of the mop cloth 20 between these rollers will result in effectively squeezing the water out of the cloth.

My preferred means for perfecting rotation of the roller l3 and the consequent wringing of the mop cloth 20, comprises a yoke corresponding in shape to the roller supporting clevis and having parallel side arms 30 and 30a which are pivotally mounted adjacent their lower ends on the pins l4 and Ma. The yoke is proportioned to lie on the inside of clevis and has the lower ends of its arms 30 and 30a reduced in size 'to provide means for engaging depressions 3| in the flanges 25 and 25a. The lower ends of the yoke arms are indicated by the numerals 32 and 32a, respectively, and are sprung inwardly slightly so as to ride at all times on the flanges 25 and 2511.

To wring the mop cloth 20 the yoke 30 is swung from its normal position to that indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 6, in which position its lower ends 32 and 32a engage one of the depressions or slots 3| in flanges 25 and 25a. When this engagement has been effected, the yoke is rotated clockwise to rotate the flanges 25 and 25a and roller l3 to an intermediate position not shown. The yoke is then swung back to the position shown in broken lines in Fig. 6 so as to engage the neXt slots 3| on the face of the flanges 25 and 25a. Clockwise rotation of the roller l3 brings the mop cloth around to the position shown in Fig. 4, and a subsequent oscillation of the yoke 38 completes the cycle and brings the mop cloth back to its original position shown in full lines in Fig. 6. It will be understood that the parts are so proportioned that upon the completion of the cycle the end of the cloth falls freely down through the clevis and yoke.

To prevent counter-rotation of the roller I3, I provide lugs or depressions 36 in the flanges 25 and 25a, faced so that when the yoke 33 reaches the end of its operating stroke one of the lugs 36 will have snapped past its guide plates [2 and will bear thereagainst to prevent counter-rotation. The engaging or stop means may be provided in various ways, but I prefer to form them in the same manner as the engaging means 3| are formed, i. e., by dimpling the outer face of the flanges 25 so as to form an outstruck or upstanding lip portion on the inside of the flange and a sharp walled depression on the outside of the flange. In the case of the yoke arms 32 and 32a, they engage the depression side of the dimple, whereas the guide arms l2 engage the lip or extended side of the dimple.

By an inspection of Fig. 4, it will be seen that extended portions of the flanges 25 and 25a indicated by the numerals 33 and 33a cooperate with the guides l2 and 2a to confine the strings of the mop cloth after they leave the guides l2 and |2a until they pass between the yoke arms 30 and 30a. The tension on the resilient means l9 and |9a is such that the roller I5 is firmly held against the mop cloth so as to keep the same taut while it is being wound around the large roller iii. The circumference of the large roller I3 is preferably approximately equal to the length of the mop cloth expected to be used, so that there will be no overlapping of the cloth during the wringing operation. It is desirable to design the roller I3 to an optimum size, 1. e., where it is large enough to wring the mop cloth without any overlapping, but on the other hand, no larger than absolutely necessary, since compactness in a mop of this kind is much to be desired. For very long mop cloths, it Will generally be found preferable to use a larger roller l3.

While I have shown and described a preferred form of my mop assembly in considerable detail, it is to be understood that I do not mean to be limited to the form shown, other than as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A self-wringing mop which includes: a handle; a clevis secured to the end of said handle; a relatively large roller rotatably mounted between the arms of said clevis and adapted to have a mop cloth fastened thereon; flanges attached to said roller for confining said mop cloth when said roller is rotated; a relatively small roller rotatably mounted in said clevis arms forward of said large roller; resilient means associated with said rollers urging one of them toward the other; guide plates formed integrally with the forward ends of the clevis, and extending rearwardly thereof to said large roller, the ends of said plates adjacent said large roller being curved to conform to the curvature thereof, whereby to confine said mop cloth when said rollers are rotated; and a yoke pivotally mounted on said clevis and adapted to engage said first roller and rotate the same to pass said mop cloth between said rollers.

2. A self-wringing mop which includes: a handle; a clevis secured to the end of said handle; a large roller rotatably mounted between the arms of said clevis and adapted to have a mop cloth fastened thereon; flanges attached to opposite ends of said roller for confining said mop cloth thereon when said roller is rotated, said flanges having a plurality of dimples spaced circumferentially around their centers; a second roller rotatably mounted in said clevis arms; means resiliently urging one of said rollers toward the other: and a. yoke pivotally mounted on said clevis and provided with a portion extending beyond its pivot point. and adapted to consecutively engage said dimples on said first roller and rotate the same to pass said mop cloth between said rollers.

3. A self-wringing mop which includes: a handle; a clevis secured to the forward end of said handle; a relatively large roller rotatably mounted between the arms of said clevis and adapted to have a mop cloth attached thereto; a relatively small roller rotatably mounted in said clevis forwardly of said large roller, one of said rollers being movable toward and away from the other said roller; means resiliently urging said movable roller toward said other roller; and means for rotating said large roller to pass said mop cloth between said two rollers to wring the same.

4. A self-wringing mop which includes: a handle; a clevis secured to the forward end of said handle; a relatively large roller rotatably mounted between the arms of said clevis and adapted to have a mop cloth attached thereto, said roller being of sufficient size to accommodate the entire length of said mop cloth when the same is wound thereon; a relatively small roller rotatably mounted in said clevis forwardly of said large roller, one of said rollers being movable toward and away from the other said roller; means resiliently urging said movable roller toward said other roller; guide plates formed integrally with the forward ends of the arms of said clevis, and extending rearwardly thereof to said large roller, the ends of said plates adjacent said roller being curved to conform to the curvature of said roller, to thereby confine the sides of said mop cloth; and means for rotating said large roller to pass said mop cloth between said two rollers to wring the same.

5. A self-wringing mop which includes: a handle; a clevis secured to the end of said handle; a first roller rotatably mounted between the arms of said clevis and adapted to have a mop cloth fastened thereon; means for confining said mop cloth when said roller is rotated; a second roller rotatably mounted in said clevis arms forward of said first roller; resilient means associated with said rollers urging them together; guide plates formed integrally with the forward ends of the clevis, and extending rearwardly thereof to said first roller, the ends of said plates adjacent said first roller being curved to conform to the curvature thereof, whereby to confine said mop cloth when said rollers are rotated; and means operatively associated with one of said rollers for rotating the same to pass said mop cloth between said rollers.

6. A self-wringing mop which includes: a handle; a clevis secured to the forward end of said handle; a relatively large roller rotatably mounted between the arms of said clevis and adapted to have a mop cloth attached thereto, said roller being of sufiicient size to accommodate the entire length of said mop cloth when the same is wound thereon; a relatively small roller rotatably mounted in said clevis forwardly of said large roller, one of said rollers being movable toward and away from the other said roller; means resiliently urging said movable roller toward said other roller; guide plates formed integrally with the forward ends of the arms of said clevis, and extending rearwardly thereof to said large roller to thereby confine the sides of said mop cloth; and means for rotating said large roller to pass said mop cloth between said two rollers to wring the same.

VIRGIL K. COOPER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 965,472 Lien July 26, 1910 2,274,880 Bodimer Mar. 3, 1942 1,783,879 Kenner Dec. 2, 1930 973,392 Shattuck Oct. 18, 1910 1,026,625 Dupre May 14, 1912 1,342,182 Peterson June 1, 1920 2,241,763 Bodimer May 13, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 217,415 Great Britain June 19, 1924 

